


for you, i'll break through

by kiddolane



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Guardian Angels, Angel!Tsukki, Bisexuality, M/M, More characters will be added in future chapters, Slow Build, The M rating will kick in later, human!hinata
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 02:24:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5521979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiddolane/pseuds/kiddolane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>"My name is Tsukishima Kei," the man says.  "I'm not a ghost, as you so stupidly thought I was.  I'm a spirit.  More specifically, I'm what you humans call a ‘guardian angel.’  I've been assigned to you to help fix you and get your life back in order."<br/><br/>"A guardian angel.  Whoa, so those are real?" Shouyou whispers in awe.  Then, he frowns over what this Tsukishima had said.  "Wait, what do you mean, 'fix me?'  I don't need to be fixed!"</p>
  <p>Tsukishima rolls his eyes again.  "You just lost your job today, broke up with your on-and-off girlfriend of two years and you're bitter about losing out on your big volleyball dream.  Yeah, I'd say you need help."</p>
</blockquote>Hinata Shouyou has to get his life back in order, and he has to do it with the help of the grumpiest spirit he's ever met, whether he likes it or not.  But these two might end up helping each other out more than either of them would've ever imagined.
            </blockquote>





	for you, i'll break through

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tougenkyous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tougenkyous/gifts).



The Assignment Hall is quiet. It’s always quiet. Even at times like these, with rows upon rows of Basic Spirits filling this arena-sized room to the brim, it’s unsettlingly quiet. As far as one can see, everybody has their gaze fixated on the empty dais at the bottom, staring at it with rapt attention, unwavering even for a moment.  
  
Tsukishima Kei, however, ends up glancing longingly at the exit right behind him. But before he can act on any rebellious thoughts, the atmosphere of the room shifts. To the naked eye, nothing changes, but the feel of the room is just… different. Kei sighs and glares at the ceiling, where the Head Deity’s presence has settled. He has never seen the Head Deity’s physical form; he doesn’t even know if they _have_ one. Yet Kei can’t help but think that they like making a flashy entrance regardless.  
  
“The Head Deity has officially arrived,” Archangel Takeda announces from his station at the left of the dais, standing atop a single post, elevated above even the highest row in the hall. “We will now call this Basic Meeting to order.”  
  
A small scroll materializes in Archangel Takeda’s hands, and he unfurls it, reading the name at the very top.  
  
“Will the Supervising Spirit Kisaragi Shun please report to the dais?”  
  
No sooner does the request leave Takeda’s lips than Kisaragi appears on the dais in a dramatic puff of smoke, which, in Kei’s eyes, is really unnecessary. Kisaragi acknowledges Takeda with a slight nod of the head, then immediately spots his Basic in the audience.  
  
“Kitamura Miki, please come down here at once,” he calls out. Kitamura silently stands from his seat and shuffles past the other Basics sitting next to him. Watching him reach the aisle and then slowly descend the long staircase until he finally joins Kisaragi feels like ages, and Kei’s eyes glaze over at the sheer tediousness of it all.  
  
"Kitamura Miki. Your assignment is named Kamui Shinji. Thirty-five years old, going through a divorce, has sole custody of his six-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy. His wife has gotten half of his assets, and he needs money to support his household. Your job is to assist him and get his life back in order."  
  
Kitamura bows at the waist. "As you command, Kisaragi-san."  
  
Kei watches all of this with a sneer. He sees how concise and efficient this exchange is. He sees how Kisaragi doles out his orders with no hint of emotion. And worst of all, he sees how Kitamura simply accepts everything without question, like an obedient dog in front of his master.  
  
It's the most lifeless thing he has ever seen, and he has to deal with this crap every day.  
  
"Tch," he clicks with his tongue. The scoff carries around the large, cavernous room in a heavy echo, causing the numerous other inhabitants to turn and glare at him. He's used to the glares; they stopped affecting him a long time ago. So he does what he always does when he gets bored: he stands up and leaves. And from his seat at the very back row, right next to the aisle, leaving is no problem. He feels the glare of the Head Deity on his back as he pushes open the heavy doors of the Assignment Hall, but he ignores it. What can the Head Deity do to him, anyway? He's only a Basic, after all.  
  
"Oh, is the meeting done already?"  
  
"No, I think he just left early."  
  
"Wait, isn't that Tsukishima Kei?"  
  
"Yeah, it looks like him. Ugh, of course he would leave early. What a jerk."  
  
"It's like he doesn't even care about anything! He should be lucky he was even created in the first place!"  
  
Kei rolls his eyes. Yes, he's gotten used to the gossip too. He's grown accustomed to the sniping behind his back about his apathy towards the world he lives in. How ironic that these angels and spirits can think on their own when throwing insults at him but not when it concerns this ridiculous system. He wonders how any of them can even stand it, how they can just roll over and accept this subservience to the human world without question. But they just do, and they all look at him with judgmental eyes for not being so quick to blindly follow orders like some sheep. It makes him feel alone, and over the years, he's trained his mind into believing that he doesn't need their companionship, that the stifling isolation isn't eating away at him every second of every day.  
  
It wasn't always like this. He wasn't always the only one who thought these things. There was another spirit who understood his disdain and validated his desire for something more. This spirit, now angel...  
  
"That wasn't cool, Kei."  
  
...is standing in front of him right now.  
  
Kei stops and narrows his eyes at the fellow golden-haired man before him. "What do you want?"  
  
The angel, Akiteru, softly clicks his tongue. "You left the Assignment Hall during a Basic Meeting again. How many times has that been? You've lost count by now, haven't you?"  
  
"Wow, I didn't think you still had it in you to care about a stupid misfit like me. I figured you'd have forgotten about me while you went off and became a suck-up." Kei lets his bottled-up resentment slowly seep into his words while he quashes the pang of guilt in his chest when he sees Akiteru wince.  
  
"I never stopped caring about you, Kei," Akiteru says quietly. "Why won't you believe me?"  
  
Kei looks away and says nothing in response. Why do those words have to sound so genuine? Kei wants so badly to hate him for what he did, yet all it takes are a few gentle, loving words to tear down the walls he had spent so much time and effort constructing. He just hopes his silence is enough to send Akiteru on his way so he won't have to deal with this awful mix of anger and regret that's bubbling over in his mind, only increasing in violence with each awkward second that stretches between them.  
  
Finally, Akiteru sighs. "Kei, you should really be more careful. Before you make the Head Deity really mad."  
  
Kei snorts. "What can they do to me? I've already been created, they can't uncreate me. Basics are the lowest form of spirits, so I can’t be demoted. And there's nowhere they could banish me. They're stuck with me, whether they like it or not."  
  
"I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Kei,” Akiteru responds quietly, which makes Kei frown. But before he can ask, Akiteru speaks over him. “I'm pretty sure they'll think of something. They're not going to let this behavior slide forever."  
  
"Whatever. I'm leaving," Kei replies, pushing past Akiteru, his shoulder purposely banging against the other's.  
  
"Kei!" Akiteru tries calling after him, but at that point, it's fallen on deaf ears as Kei successfully rebuilds his walls. He opens the bag that's swinging at his side and pulls out the thick book inside. If there's anything he can afford to feel pride over, it's his advanced knowledge of spells. While the other angels waste time answering to every beck and call of those humans, he spends his days both reading up on the history of the human world and practicing spells. Even as a Basic, he knows incantations that are on a higher level than some angels he knows. Why even bother with those stupid humans when he can be a far more effective spirit than anyone else?  
  
The sight of the library ahead pushes Kei's contemptuous thoughts to the backburner as he picks up the pace. The spell book in his hands is an excellent read, but after poring through the pages numerous times, he's learned all that he can from it, to the point where he can recite some selections verbatim. He feels about ready to change it out for another one. Climbing up the front steps, Kei is about to lay his palm on the massive doors when he is literally stopped in his tracks. His limbs are all locked in place, and no matter how much force he puts, none of them give an inch.  
  
"That's far enough, Tsukki."  
  
A low growl rumbles out of Kei's throat. He would recognize that smarmy voice anywhere. Sure enough, a tall, tan-skinned man with the hair of a rooster saunters into his line of vision, an infuriatingly smug grin plastered on his face.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?"  
  
"Somewhere where I can relax. In case you haven't realized it yet, that involves _not_ having to look at you."  
  
"So mean, Tsukki!" Kuroo retorts mockingly. "That's no way to talk to your Supervising Spirit."  
  
"If I had my way, I wouldn't talk to you at all," Kei quips.  
  
"Well, it's a good thing you don't. You made waves at the Basic Meeting again. Why am I not surprised?"  
  
“I keep saying those meetings are pointless. I don’t see why I have to go and watch other Basics get their assignments. It’s such a waste of time.”  
  
“But that’s not up for you to decide, is it?” Kuroo counters, finally releasing his hold on Kei, allowing his arms and legs to move again. “I spoke to the Head Deity a while back, and it looks like there’s gonna be some changes around here.”  
  
Kei groans internally. “Look, I don’t wanna listen to whatever protocol changes the Head Deity’s drafted up. Just let me go to the library and read my spells in peace, alright?”  
  
“That’s just the thing, Tsukki. You can’t go to the library anymore.”  
  
“…What?” Kei asks menacingly, turning slowly to Kuroo and fixing him with a gaze so foreboding that if Kuroo were human, he’d have died on the spot.  
  
To his credit, Kuroo looks entirely unfazed. “Effective immediately, you are forbidden entry into the library until you get your wings.”  
  
Kei grunts in exasperation and shoves past Kuroo. “Whatever. This is ridiculous. Like they can do anything to stop—” His sentence is cut short the moment he lays his palm against the door. An invisible force emanates from the building, ramming against Kei and blowing him back against the ground. Groaning, he props himself up on his elbows in time to find Kuroo sighing and rolling his eyes.  
  
“Why do you think I stopped you in the first place?”  
  
Kei stands on his feet again and glowers at Kuroo. “You do know how stupid this is, right? Every Basic relies on the library to study up on spells and history. How are they going to learn and become proper angels if they can’t even access the library?”  
  
“I didn’t say it was a _Basic_ mandate,” Kuroo responds without batting an eye. “This is a _Tsukki-only_ mandate.”  
  
“You… You can’t expect me to get my wings right away. You guys still have to pick out an assignment for me. That could take a really long time,” Kei says, already dreading the outcome, even more so when Kuroo smirks wickedly in response.  
  
“Oh, it’s funny you should say that. We actually _do_ have an assignment picked out for you!” he replies, and with a flourish, he grabs Kei’s wrist. “Matter of fact, we’re gonna give you that assignment right about… now!”  
  
Kuroo snaps his fingers, and before Kei knows it, they’re back inside the Assignment Hall. Kei feels the stares of thousands of Basics bearing down on him, and he quickly develops a sense of claustrophobia. In a moment of weakness, he thinks about fleeing, but he knows he won’t even make it three steps before he’d be stopped by either Kuroo, Archangel Takeda or the Head Deity themself. So he just settles for glaring at Kuroo, who conjures up a sheet of paper to read.  
  
“Tsukishima Kei. Your assignment is Hinata Shouyou. Twenty-one years old, going on twenty-two. He’s just gotten fired from his third job this year, is about to break up with his on-and-off girlfriend of two years, and he’s building up lots of bitterness and regret over a failing dream of becoming a university volleyball star. Your job is to assist him and get his life back in order.” Kuroo smirks. “Come on, Tsukki, this is an easy one. We’re practically _giving_ this one to you. Surely, you can do at least this much, right?”  
  
Kei sees no way out from this. It looks like he really has no other choice than to do this ridiculous assignment. He can hear the jeers from his fellow Basics in the stands.  
  
“Tsukishima Kei? He’s finally getting assigned?”  
  
“It’s about time. What took them so long?”  
  
“Thank goodness! Now, we don’t have to deal with his annoying attitude anymore.”  
  
Gritting his teeth, he fixes his gaze to the ground. “Fine, I’ll do it.”  
  
“Wrong answer, Tsukki,” is Kuroo’s irritating response. Kei growls indignantly, then slowly bows at the waist.  
  
“As you command, Kuroo-san,” he practically spits out.  
  
Then, Kei’s mind is struck with a visual image, presumably of his assignment, Hinata Shouyou. A short, wiry-looking boy, who appears far younger than twenty-one, with wild, orange hair that frankly looks even more ridiculous than his Supervising Spirit’s (he never thought that would be possible). He’s ambling down the city sidewalk with a haunted expression on his face until he enters a café, where he flops down in a chair and stares off into the distance. Kei’s lip curls in disgust at the sight of the young man in his mental image.  
  
_Pathetic._  
  
He’s going to hate this guy, he just knows it.  


\--

  
**_April 28th_**  
  
It’s 12:00 noon, and Amamiya's Café is bustling as usual, with business people on their lunch break and college students with their laptops. The place is abuzz with activity, and everyone is in high spirits.  
  
Except for one.  
  
Hinata Shouyou sits alone at a table for two next to the window, staring down at the pink paper on his lap in a near-catatonic stupor. The bold black font stamped on the header is large enough for the message to be read loud and clear:  
  
"NOTICE OF DISMISSAL"  
  
In layman's terms, Shouyou has been fired. His third job this year too. And his eleventh job over the past four years. Considering that it’s very difficult to actually be fired from one's job in Japan, his numerous dismissals seem like an achievement of sorts, Shouyou notes wryly. He definitely has a special brand of incompetence, and combined with his former manager's low tolerance for deviating from well-established protocols, Shouyou never stood a chance at that tax firm, even as an entry-level employee.  
  
He gawks down at this slip of paper in his hands, unable to get rid of it, as though it were a ball and chain that shackled him to this bleak reality.  
  
_Kageyama is gonna kill me._  
  
A distinctive _click-clack_ of high heels grabs Shouyou's attention, and he looks up to find his girlfriend, Hayami Karin, making her way to his table, waving excitedly at him from across the room once she sees she has his attention. Some strands of her blonde-dyed hair become dislodged from her messy bun as she skips over, her numerous earrings and bracelets clinking against each other and making her sound like a walking wind chime. Shouyou smiles; maybe she can provide him with some distraction from his dire situation for a bit.  
  
"Hinata!" she chirps as she wraps her arms around him in a bear hug and plants a big, wet kiss to his cheek. Shouyou can practically feel her lip gloss sticking to his skin as she finally takes her seat across from him. "How's my little orange bear?"  
  
Shouyou fakes a wide smile and hopes Karin wouldn't notice (she usually doesn't). "Good! I'm awesome! How's your day going?"  
  
"Ugh, you wouldn't believe what happened to me today!" she began, proceeding to yammer on about her job at the design company and complaining about her coworkers like she always does. Ordinarily, Shouyou would listen to her stories with rapt attention, but the looming shadow of his dismissal keeps haunting his mind. Pretty soon, his eyes are glazing over, and his mind is going a mile a minute. The next thing he registers is Karin waving her hand in front of his face.  
  
"Hello? Hinata, are you listening?"  
  
Shaking himself, Shouyou snaps back to the girl in front of him. "Huh? Ah, sorry, um..."  
  
Karin rolls her eyes and huffs. "Ugh, whatever, don't worry about it! I get it, I'm boring to you."  
  
Shouyou sighs. "Come on, you know that's not—”  
  
"I'm just kidding, silly!" she interrupts with a giggle. "Anyway, I decided since I was the one who set up the lunch date this time, I figured I'd be the one to pay the tab for the two of us."  
  
"Oh, great!" Shouyou responds a little too jovially, as the waiter comes by with their food. Since he's now unemployed, he can't afford to make any more unnecessary expenses, including covering lunch for both Karin and him, which happens almost all the time. So he's secretly grateful for her goodwill this time.  
  
The actual lunch carries on with no problems, the two of them making idle small talk periodically. It isn't until the food is almost gone that Shouyou notices Karin squinting at him. "Hinata, sweetie, is everything okay? You've been kinda off this whole date. What's wrong?"  
  
Shouyou jolts in his seat. The one time she's actually observant of him... "Nah, nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking, that's all."  
  
"Aww, come on! You can talk to me, I'm your girlfriend!" she insists, leaning forward to try and cup his cheek. Shouyou reflexively moves back, and the motion causes the pink paper on his lap to slip off his legs and flutter to the ground right next to Karin's chair.  
  
Karin blinks at the paper as she bends down to pick it up. "Huh? What's this?"  
  
Shouyou freezes in place, watching Karin unfold the paper and look over it. Her expression becomes thunderous, and suddenly, he gets the feeling he's about to witness a horrible train wreck in slow motion.  
  
"Dismissal? DISMISSAL?! YOU GOT FIRED?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"  
  
Shouyou immediately feels the gazes of the other denizens of the restaurant boring down on him as he feels his stomach plummet to his feet. "K-Karin, hang on—"  
  
"You know my dad doesn't like you, Hinata!" she barrels on, ignoring his weak protests. "I'm trying to convince him you're a great guy who can take care of me, but you constantly losing your job is making it so fucking difficult! Why can't you keep your damn job for once?"  
  
"Hey, lower your voice, Karin!" Shouyou hisses, getting riled up himself. "I'll figure something out, okay? Quit being such a nag! It’s embarrassing!"  
  
"Oh, _I’m_ embarrassing? At least I’ve still got a job! At least I'm more responsible than you! If anything, _you’re_ the embarrassment here!” she yells, no longer caring about the impact her words have on him. “But no, if you can't take care of yourself, then you can't take care of me! That means we've got no future together! WE'RE THROUGH!!"  
  
With that, she throws the pink slip in his face, snatches up her purse and storms out of the restaurant. Shouyou slumps down over the table and rubs at his temples, feeling a migraine coming on as he processes Break-Up Number Nine. He's very much aware of the stares of the people around him, some amused, some sympathetic, mostly uncomfortable. Not that Shouyou could blame any of them.  
  
His relationship with Karin has always been tumultuous. Meeting at a night club and sleeping together after the first date doesn’t quite lead to the most stable of relationships. All of their break-ups have been acrimonious and filled with heavy emotions, which were only rivaled by the intense passion of their make-ups. It's not like Shouyou hasn't tried dating other people; he's tried relationships with both men and women, but he was lucky if the relationship lasted more than two weeks. In the end, he always goes back to Karin because she's the only thing he knows, the best option he has.  
  
He sighs, trying to calculate the weeks it'll take before she would inevitably come crawling back to him, or him to her. Then, his eyes pop open upon coming to a horrible realization.  
  
_She didn't pay the tab._  


\--

  
Shouyou opens the door to his apartment wearily. After the fiasco with Karin, he _really_ doesn’t want any more drama, preferably for the rest of his life.  
  
"I'm home," he calls out.  
  
Yamaguchi looks up at him in surprise from the kitchen table. "Oh, you're home already? It's a little early for your break, isn't it?"  
  
Shouyou freezes in the doorway of the kitchen. His mouth dries up at Yamaguchi's expectant gaze. "Um..."  
  
Yamaguchi tilts his head in concern. "Hinata, are you okay? What's wrong?"  
  
The knot in Shouyou's chest tightens, but he can't bring himself to lie to Yamaguchi as he flops down on the chair next to him. "I... got fired."  
  
Shouyou isn't looking at him, but that doesn't ease the guilt he feels when Yamaguchi's face falls. "Oh, Hinata..."  
  
"Well, Harada-san always had it out for me from Day One!" Shouyou pipes up defensively. "It's not my fault he's such a freakin' blowhard!"  
  
"We really needed that extra source of income for our rent, though," Yamaguchi counters. "How are we gonna explain this to the landlord?"  
  
"We... We'll think of something, Yamaguchi, I swear!"  
  
"I keep telling you guys I can get a job to help you out."  
  
Shouyou shakes his head vigorously. "Kageyama says no, and I agree with him. You're the only one from the three of us who's going to college. You focus on your studies, and me and Kageyama will take care of the rest."  
  
Yamaguchi sighs in defeat. "If you guys say so."  
  
Shouyou nods triumphantly, then starts fidgeting in his seat. "Just... J-Just don't tell Kageyama about this, okay?"  
  
"Tell me what?"  
  
Both Shouyou and Yamaguchi stiffen in place. In unison, they slowly turn to find Kageyama closing the front door and starting to take off his shoes. "What are you doing here, Hinata? Your break isn't until 3:00."  
  
"K-K-Kageyama!" Shouyou stammers, his nerves growing increasingly on edge. "I didn't know you started coming home for breaks. Y-You usually take them at work."  
  
Kageyama narrows his eyes. "Don't change the subject. I asked you what you were doing here, and now I know there's something you don't wanna tell me. What is it?"  
  
"Uh... uh..." Shouyou's mind races trying to think of a good cover story to tell Kageyama, but judging from the growing shadow darkening Kageyama's face, he doubts that anything he'd come up with would be very convincing. Finally, Yamaguchi gives Shouyou's arm a gentle squeeze.  
  
"Hinata, tell him."  
  
Shouyou sighs, realizing his struggle is futile, and looks down at his wringing hands. Slowly, he pulls out his pink slip from his back pocket, holding it out to Kageyama. Kageyama snatches it from his hand, and for a beat, there is nothing in the kitchen apart from a silence that quickly becomes suffocating. Finally...  
  
"BASTARD!!!" Kageyama yells at the top of his lungs, making both Shouyou and Yamaguchi jump. "That's the third job this year!"  
  
"Damn it, this is why I didn't wanna tell you! You get so mad!"  
  
"You're damn right I'm gonna be mad! I spent weeks pulling strings to help you get that job! What the hell did you do?"  
  
"Why are you so quick to blame me first?"  
  
"Because all the other times you got fired was your fault, so it stands to reason that this one was too! No, you know what? I don't wanna hear it. You don't get to make excuses and blame your boss when I'm positive it was _your_ recklessness that got you fired. Because you can't go five minutes without being a complete dumbass!"  
  
Shouyou says nothing in reply, just stares down at the table, biting his lip. Then, he hears Kageyama harshly click his tongue.  
  
"Damn it, now I've only got ten minutes."  
  
From the corner of his eye, he sees Kageyama move over to the counter to dig into his lunch bag and pull out a sandwich, biting into it with more force than necessary.  
  
"Um... maybe you can go out on the town for a bit to cool your head, Hinata," Yamaguchi supplies, in an obvious attempt to defuse the situation. "Maybe you can spend some time with Hayami-san."  
  
Shouyou cringes at the mention of Karin's surname. "Me and Karin broke up today."  
  
Yamaguchi sighs. "Again?"  
  
"Good. Never liked her," Kageyama says gruffly between bites of his sandwich. "Always taking advantage of you and using you as her personal money bank. You're better off without her."  
  
"Mmm," Yamaguchi hums, though from his apologetic smile, Shouyou gets the feeling that Yamaguchi doesn't really disagree with Kageyama's statement.  
  
Kageyama guzzles down the last of his water and sighs. "Well, I have to go back to work now. I'll be back later tonight." He then looks at Shouyou and scowls. "And you! You better sign up with a recruitment agency or something, and you better do it soon! I'm not gonna help you out this time!"  
  
"Alright, I'll do it! Quit breathing down my neck already!" Shouyou snaps back.  
  
Kageyama only huffs in response before stalking out of the kitchen. Moments later, they hear the door slam, and all the tension is finally released from the room.  
  
Shouyou sighs as he turns to Yamaguchi, his shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry, Yamaguchi."  
  
Yamaguchi shakes his head. "No, don't be. You already lost your job, so there's nothing we can do about that anymore. We just have to look forward from now on."  
  
Shouyou smiles ruefully. "Yeah."  
  
With that, Yamaguchi stands up and starts packing his books into his bag. "My class is in fifteen minutes, so I'll see you tonight, Hinata. Try and have a good rest of your day, okay?"  
  
"Sure. Take care."  
  
Yamaguchi walks over to put on his shoes and gently closes the door, a stark contrast to Kageyama's forceful slam, Shouyou notices. He then slowly trudges his way to his room, where he slumps onto the bed, staring listlessly at the ceiling.  
  
_"Try and have a good rest of your day, okay?"_  
  
_Yeah, easier said than done, Yamaguchi,_ Shouyou thinks, placing a hand over his face. He closes his eyes and wonders where he went wrong in his life. It's times like these he wishes he can go back to his high school days in Miyagi, where he was a volleyball star. Everyone looked up to him in admiration, whispered his name in reverence, and they were positive he was gonna go far and make a name for himself, maybe even play the game on an Olympic level. And over the three years he’d been playing volleyball, building his skills, winning one match over another and toppling the most intimidating of opponents, Shouyou started believing it too.  
  
But while he may have been a legend at volleyball, his grades were an entirely different matter, as that was what ultimately kept him from gaining a scholarship and playing volleyball on a university level. That initial setback hadn’t stopped him, however. With a voracious determination, he had re-sat the university entrance exams in the subsequent years, but each year he failed miserably, coming nowhere close to the minimum score needed to get accepted. Combined with his constant broken relationships and the companies that dismissed him because of his incompetence, the seemingly bottomless confidence Shouyou once had had gradually been whittled away. He began to feel like someone like him isn’t meant to operate within the cold, cynical boundaries of the real world. Each rejection that reality had slapped him with made him cling even harder to his dream of playing volleyball, to the point where it almost became a lifeline to him. In his eyes, volleyball became the one place where he felt like he truly belonged, the one dream he felt he could turn into reality. But with each of his failures, there is nothing he can do now but watch helplessly as this dream slowly chips away before his eyes, becoming more and more unobtainable with each passing year.  
  
Shouyou's just glad that hardly any of the people who adored him in high school are around to see him now. He doesn't think he could bear to see their looks of disappointment over the nobody he's become. He's not even sure he deserves such earnest, hardworking friends like Kageyama and Yamaguchi. They’re the ones who pick up the pieces for Shouyou every day and help him start over with a clean slate in Tokyo. They’re there for him through every heartbreak, and miraculously, they still see him as someone worthy of support even with the crushing failure that his life is rapidly spiraling into.  
  
Shouyou presses his palm against his face as he desperately tries to control the stinging in his eyes.  
  
_What's it gonna take for something to go_ right _in my life for once?_  
  
"Wow, you look even more pathetic in person."  
  
Shouyou frowns at the unfamiliar voice. Slowly, he uncovers his face and lifts his head. On the other side of his bed, next to his window, is a tall, lanky guy, wearing a long, baggy-sleeved robe that extends down to his feet. His hair is short and shaggy, and a pair of rectangular, black-rimmed glasses sits on his face. The man has his head tilted and is staring down at Shouyou with a sneer to his lips and eyes filled with disdainful judgment.  
  
Now, Shouyou isn't exactly sure what happens next. One minute, he's lying motionless on his bed, staring at this stranger in complete silence.  
  
The next, he's charging at him with an aluminum bat, screaming like a banshee. The man watches him dash forward and doesn't make any attempt to dodge.  
  
_Better for me, then._  
  
However, once he swings the bat, the weapon passes right through the man, as though he were some kind of projection. Shouyou's jaw drops in shock, then he looks down at the bat in his hands, tapping it with his knuckles. After confirming that the bat is indeed a hard metal instead of some prank bat, he swings at the man again. No connection. He swings again. Nothing. Again. _Still_ nothing.  
  
After a few more tries, Shouyou is winded, and he gawks up at the stranger in sheer disbelief. The man, however, has not given off any expression other than complete boredom.  
  
"Are you done?" he drawls.  
  
Shouyou yelps in surprise, dropping the bat, his overactive mind jumping to the most logical conclusion it can think of.  
  
_Oh God, this guy's a ghost!_  
  
He scurries away from the supposed ghost, over to the nightstand at the edge of his bed. Yanking open the small drawer, he rummages through its contents until he finds what he's looking for. With a renewed determination, he whips back around to the man, who has not moved from his spot.  
  
"Begone!" Shouyou yells, holding a rosary with both hands, his arms outstretched in the man's direction as far as his height can allow. Ten seconds of uncomfortable silence pass by, neither party moving an inch, before the man sighs.  
  
"I'm not a vampire, you idiot."  
  
Shouyou gasps, the rosary falling to the floor, quickly forgotten. At a loss, he scurries to the door. With his speed, maybe he can outrun the guy.  
  
The moment he touches the door, however, an unknown force shoves against him, knocking him to the ground with a grunt. Confused, Shouyou frowns at the door before jumping to his feet and trying again. And once again, he's sent flying across the room.  
  
"Ouch," Shouyou groans, sitting up and staring at the door in betrayal, as if it conspired to trap him with this guy. Speaking of that guy, he _still_ hasn't moved from his spot, although he now has one arm outstretched in the direction of the door.  
  
"Now will you listen?"  
  
Shouyou stares at him warily. "Who... Who are you? And what did you do to my door?" He then gasps. "You're a ghost, aren't you? You're the ghost of a yakuza member who got betrayed and killed by his friends! And now your spirit's gonna come back and kill them out of revenge, and you're gonna possess me to do it, right? _Right?!_ " he finishes, arms flailing and tears budding in the corners of his eyes.  
  
The man is squinting at him in a combination of shock, confusion and disgust. "Where do you dream this stuff up? Are you even real?"  
  
Shouyou bristles. "Am _I_ real? That's what I should be asking _you!_ H-How'd you get into my room? How can stuff pass through you? _And what the hell did you do to my door?!"_  
  
"Geez, would you shut up already?!" the man says irritably. "I'm gonna explain everything, so just sit down on the bed and quit asking so many questions!"  
  
Slowly, Shouyou rises to his feet and makes his way to his bed. "Alright, I'll do what you say. But you have to promise you're not gonna possess me."  
  
The man rolls his eyes. "I'm not possessing you. That's just a myth, anyway. Now sit down and be quiet, alright?"  
  
Shouyou shuts up and sits down on the bed as he was told. His eyes never leave the man as he floats ( _floats?!_ ) to the other side of the bed until he's standing right in front of Shouyou.  
  
The man sighs and raises one hand in the air. In moments, a sheet of paper suddenly materializes out of nowhere and flutters down into his outstretched hand. He looks down at it, studying it for a while, and then returns his gaze to Shouyou.  
  
"My name is Tsukishima Kei," the man says. "I'm not a ghost, as you so stupidly thought I was. I'm a spirit. More specifically, I'm what you humans call a ‘guardian angel.’ I've been assigned to you to help fix you and get your life back in order."  
  
"A guardian angel. Whoa, so those are real?" Shouyou whispers in awe. Then, he frowns over what this Tsukishima had said. "Wait, what do you mean, 'fix me?' I don't need to be fixed!"  
  
Tsukishima rolls his eyes again. "You just lost your job today, broke up with your on-and-off girlfriend of two years and you're bitter about losing out on your big volleyball dream. Yeah, I'd say you need help."  
  
Shouyou backs away from Tsukishima in disgust. "What the hell? How do you know so much about me? Who told you to just... invade my private thoughts like that?"  
  
"I didn't get these details about your life. My superiors assign them to me. Then, they send me or any of the other spirits and angels down to you humans to spend time with you until your lives get back in order."  
  
"Yeah, well, I don't need your help! I can fix my life on my own, thank you!"  
  
"It doesn't matter if you can fix your life on your own. I've been assigned to you, and you're gonna have to put up with me, whether you like it or not."  
  
"And how long is that gonna last?"  
  
"As long as it takes to resolve all your issues. Could be a few weeks, could be years. Although if you could do us both a favor and hurry it along, that’d be great."  
  
"What the heck?! Well, if I'm gonna have some stupid guardian angel or whatever with me, can I at least switch to another one? I don't wanna have to deal with a jerk like you!"  
  
Tsukishima scoffs. "Believe me, I don't wanna deal with a worthless human like you, either. But once a spirit or angel has been assigned to a human, that assignment doesn't change until it's been completed. It won't take very long, though. My superiors said you're one of the easier ones."  
  
Something in that sentence strikes a nerve in Shouyou. "Easy?" he repeats, his voice reduced to a whisper. "I've got all of these issues, and... they think I'm easy?"  
  
He wrings his hands on his lap and bites his lip, feeling the indignation build inside of him like air in a balloon. He doesn't look at Tsukishima again, and the silence in the room becomes thick with tension.  
  
"So..." he asks, "...if I get a job and a relationship, you'll go away and leave me alone?"  
  
"That's the idea," he hears Tsukishima respond in that same indifferent tone, and it's really starting to piss him off.  
  
"Well, fine then!" Shouyou exclaims, springing to his feet. "I'm gonna do just that! And I'm gonna get you as far away from me as possible, so I won't ever have to see you again!"  
  
Tsukishima shrugs. "No argument here."  
  
Shouyou looks at the bored expression on Tsukishima's face and grumbles as he stalks to the door. "Well, I'm gonna go out there, put my shoes on and show everyone that Hinata Shouyou can fix his own damn li- AGH!"  
  
He screams as he's sent flying back to the floor. Immediately, he sits up and glowers at Tsukishima. "Oh yeah, what the hell did you do to my door?"  
  
"I put an incantation on it, so you won't be able to have access to it until I take it off."  
  
"And lemme guess, you forgot about it, right?"  
  
Tsukishima smirks. "No, I remembered."  
  
"Wha- then, why’d you let me run into it?!"  
  
Tsukishima bursts into laughter. "Because seeing you get knocked on your ass is hilarious!"  
  
Shouyou growls and springs back to his feet, storming over to the door, which he's finally able to open. The sound of Tsukishima's snide laughter carries out into the hall and follows him incessantly.  
  
He's going to hate this guy, he just knows it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a LONG fic. I don't know how long just yet, but this isn't the end. I hope you guys like what I have so far!
> 
> EDIT: Now that HQ hols creators have been revealed, I can finally thank all the people I've wanted to thank. First, I definitely want to give a BIG shout-out to Megan (aka [museicalitea](http://archiveofourown.org/users/museicalitea)) for being so nice to be my beta for this fic and helping me polish this story the best I can. Also, huge thanks to Winny, Srishti and Bunny for giving me moral support and pushing each other to the end. All of you guys are the absolute best!


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